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| President Obama and PM Netanyahu |
By Ben Shapiro, for Breitbart
Secretary of State John Kerry has long been considered an integral part of President Obama’s foreign policy team. And for just as long, he has been an anti-Israel advocate par excellence, an opponent of the Jewish State’s right to defend itself, a man dedicated to pressuring our only ally in the Middle East to concede to terror.
It comes as no surprise, therefore, to see the terms of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel proposed by Kerry in his latest round of anti-Israel maneuverings.
His ceasefire proposal was so unacceptable that it was unanimously rejected by the Israeli cabinet, including leftists Tzipi Livni and Yair Lapid; even Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan see the proposal as disastrous. The Palestinian Authority doesn’t even like the proposal, given their jockeying for power in the Gaza Strip.
arrangements to secure the opening of crossings, allow the entry of goods and people and ensure the social and economic livelihood of the Palestinian people living in Gaza, transfer of funds to Gaza for the payment of salaries for public employees and address all security issues. Israel's demands were mentioned in the most general of terms in the phrase ‘address all security issues.’ There was no one mention of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip of its rocket supply or advanced weapons, and not the dismantling of the terror tunnels.
The draft Kerry passed to Israel on Friday shocked the cabinet ministers not only because it was the opposite of what Kerry told them less than 24 hours earlier, but mostly because it might as well have been penned by Khaled Meshal. It was everything Hamas could have hoped for….The document placed Israel and Hamas on the same level, as if the first is not a primary U.S. ally and as if the second isn't a terror group which overtook part of the Palestinian Authority in a military coup and fired thousands of rockets at Israel.
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| JOHN KERRY |
Ravid, of course, said that Kerry was not anti-Israel – which begs the question as to who Ravid would consider anti-Israel. He concluded, “It's as if he isn't the foreign minister of the world's most powerful nation, but an alien, who just disembarked his spaceship in the Mideast.”
But he isn’t an alien. He didn’t just disembark his spaceship in the Middle East. Kerry has a long history of such nastiness. Here are Kerry’s top seven other anti-Israel moments:
The Hot Mic Moment. Just last week, as Hamas fired hundreds of rockets into Israel and Israel responded by attempting to hit military targets and avoid civilian casualties – Israel sacrificed its own troops in order to distinguish civilian from military targets – Kerry was caught on an open mic on Fox News ripping Israel for civilian casualties. “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation, it’s a hell of a pinpoint operation,” Kerry whined. “We’ve got to get over there.” According to Fox News’ Chris Wallace, other media quashed coverage of this anti-Israel broadside.
Kerry Threatens Boycotts. Following the lead of his president, Kerry stated, “The risks are very high for Israel [if an agreement is not reached]. People are talking about boycott. That will intensify in the case of failure. Do they want a failure that then begs whatever may come in the form of a response from disappointed Palestinians and the Arab community?” According to IDF Radio, Kerry himself organized European boycotts of Israeli goods should an agreement not be reached.
Kerry Threatens Intifada. In November, Kerry threatened that Israel’s failure to reach an agreement could lead to violence. “Failure of the talks will increase Israel's isolation in the world. The alternative to getting back to the talks is a potential of chaos. I mean, does Israel want a third intifada?”
Kerry warned. “I believe that if we do not resolve the issues between Palestinians and Israelis; if we do not find a way to find peace, there will be an increasing isolation of Israel. There will be an increasing campaign of delegitimization of Israel that's taking place on an international basis. That if we do not resolve the question of the settlements and who lives where and how and what rights they have; if we don't end the presence of Israeli soldiers perpetually within the West Bank, then there will be an increasing feeling that if we cannot get peace with a leadership that is committed to nonviolence, you may wind up with leadership that is committed to violence.”
Kerry Calls Israel an “Apartheid State.” In April, Kerry said that Israel had to make concessions to the Palestinians or face becoming an “apartheid state.” He also warned again that Israel could precipitate violence by not surrendering to Palestinian terror. “A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative. Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens—or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state,” Kerry said.
Kerry Pushes 1949 Lines. Mirroring the policies of President Obama, Kerry has reportedly pushed Israel to return to the pre-1967 borders referred to in Israel as “Auschwitz borders” due to their indefensibility.
State Department Rejects Requiring Palestinians to Accept Jewish State. Kerry’s State Department rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate that any peace deal be predicated on acceptance of Israel as a Jewish State. In March, Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, reportedly told Palestinian Authority Al-Quds newspaper, “The American position is clear, Israel is a Jewish state. However, we do not see a need that both sides recognize this position as part of the final agreement.”
Kerry Backs Iran Deal. When Israel objected to the Obama administration’s absurd nuclear deal with Iran, Kerry’s spokesperson instead said that Israeli worries about the deal were “inaccurate, exaggerated, and not based on reality.” According to NPR, “the secretary himself reportedly told senators behind closed doors that they should disregard the Israeli reports about the deal. Kerry's also been more vocal lately about Israeli settlement building in the West Bank as his other priority, Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, falter.”
No wonder back in January, Israel’s Defense Minister, Moshe Ya’alon, said that Kerry “turned up here determined and acting out of misplaced obsession and messianic fervor,” stating the only hope for Israel was for Kerry to “win a Nobel Prize and leave us in peace.” That drew the ire of the State Department, which demanded that Prime Minister Netanyahu apologize to Kerry.
Kerry is the one who owes Israelis an apology – just as he owes his fellow soldiers an apology, just as he owes Syrians an apology, just as he owes innocent Iraqis an apology, just as he owes Ukrainians an apology. Kerry’s tenure has been marked by his reprehensible cowardice and desire to appease the world’s worst regimes. His current support for Hamas is no exception.
Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the new book, The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration (Threshold Editions, June 10, 2014). He is also Editor-in-Chief of TruthRevolt.org. Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.
Link to this article - http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/07/28/Kerry-betray-Israel
Poster - http://elderofziyon.blogspot.co.il/
Poster - http://elderofziyon.blogspot.co.il/
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White House officials fuming over Israeli criticism of John Kerry's protecting Hamas
In unusually harsh language, officials said the criticism of Kerry could put the relationship between the U.S. and Israel in jeopardy. They also said the attacks on Kerry crossed a line and were particularly disappointing at a time of active conflict.
Israeli media commentators have leveled almost nonstop criticism at Kerry in recent days for failing to understand the nature of the conflict and for undermining Israel in several ways. Israel has been critical of Kerry’s attempts to bring Qatar and Turkey--two countries strongly supportive of Hamas--into the cease-fire negotiations.
Kerry was also being accused of abandoning Israel's key demands during the negotiations, and of making cease-fire proposals strongly advantageous to Hamas.
Israel is an ally of the United States. Hamas is designated by the US, EU, and Israel as a terror organization. Israelis have been generally critical of American and UN attempts to prevent it from achieving its military goals against Hamas.
In trying to implement the cease-fire over the weekend, "U.S. Secretary of State of State John Kerry ruined everything," wrote respected columnist Ari Shavit, in Monday's Haaretz, Israel's leading liberal newspaper. "Very senior officials," he noted, "in Jerusalem described the proposal that Kerry put on the table as a 'strategic terrorist attack'."
Kerry made no direct mention of the criticism during brief remarks Monday. However, he did seek to debunk the notion that the U.S. had backed away from its support for the demilitarization of Gaza, which has been a top priority for Israel.
"Any process to resolve the crisis in Gaza in a lasting and meaningful way must lead to the disarmament of Hamas and all terrorist groups," Kerry said, at the same time the White House was calling for an unconditional cease-fire without mentioning any disarmament.
Kerry returned to Washington Sunday after a week of shuttle diplomacy in the region failed to secure the week-long cease-fire he sought.
U.S. frustration with Israel seeped into the White House's readout of a phone call Sunday between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The White House said Obama told Netanyahu that the U.S. had "serious and growing concern" about the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. He also called for an "immediate, unconditional humanitarian cease-fire," according to the White House, with no mention of demilitarization of Gaza, Israel’s key objective, as part of the cease-fire.
Kerry's efforts at Middle East diplomacy earlier this year angered Israel, where many in the government were critical of what they perceived as Kerry's abandonment of Israeli core positions and conducting negotiations that left the parties farther apart than when they started.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon reportedly suggested that Kerry pick up a Nobel Prize for his efforts, then leave the Israelis and Palestinians alone.
Link to this article - http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/07/28/U-S-Fuming-over-Israeli-Criticism-of-Kerry-Cease-Fire-Efforts
Obama called Israel's PM and DEMANDED an immediate cease fire
President Barack Obama phoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Sunday, demanding that he agree to an immediate ceasefire “that ends hostilities now and leads to a permanent cessation of hostilities, based on the November 2012 ceasefire agreement.”
Israel has, however, unilaterally agreed to over five ceasefires so far, all of which Hamas has either outright rejected or violated in early stages. It remains unclear how Israel is supposed to comply with Obama’s demands when, to no fault of the Jewish state, Hamas has ignored its previous ceasefire efforts on multiple occasions.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said, “With all due respect to President Obama, if Hamas doesn’t halt its fire, Israel won’t be able to.”
In his phone call with Netanyahu, Obama called for the complete “disarmament of terrorist groups and the demilitarization of Gaza,” which has been interpreted as a huge victory for Israel’s moral authority.
Likud Knesset (Parliament) member Danny Danon, who was recently fired as deputy defense minister, said sarcastically of Obama’s demands, “We need a ceasefire from Obama and the American Administration. Just like the U.S. is fighting the Taliban with determination, we must continue fighting Hamas and destroying its tunnel infrastructure.”
The Israeli security cabinet agreed to a 24-hour extension of the self-declared one-sided ceasefire in Gaza. Hamas had also agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire, but then violated the truce Saturday night.
Hamas also rejected an extension of the truce, even as Israel said it would continue to hold up its end of the bargain. A Hamas official said of the truce extension proposal, “Any humanitarian ceasefire that does not include the pullout of [IDF Troops] from the Gaza Strip and does not allow Gaza residents to return to their homes and to care for their wounded is not acceptable.”
As of Sunday, the IDF had lost forty-three soldiers in battle during Operation Protective Edge, which entered day 21 on Monday.
Links to this article - http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/07/28/Obama-Demands-Israel-Agree-To-Ceasefire
Cartoon - The Cartoon Kronicles at the Jerusalem Post
http://cartoonkronicles.com/
http://www.jpost.com/
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